Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
A meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan with the participation of OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairmen was held in Vienna on May 16, Arzu Naghiyev, political analyst, deputy director general of Trend news agency, said May 17.
The analyst said that as expected, the meeting was held with the participation of the foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chair countries.
Naghiyev added that a meeting in this format has been held for the first time.
The analyst said that each country represented at the meeting pursued its own objectives.
"The presidential election will be held in the US in November and the US does not want the conflicts to remain unresolved," the analyst said. "Russia once again is trying to demonstrate its influence in the region."
"The participation of Harlem Desir, French minister of state for European affairs, testifies to the interest in ensuring security in the region, necessary to ensure Europe's energy security, as well as the importance of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Naghiyev said.
The analyst said that the Armenian authorities were eager to attend these talks.
"The Armenian leadership was eager to attend these negotiations in the current situation, when there is no domestic stability in Armenia, various political parties are demanding the resignation of President Sargsyan and a split occurred between the unrecognized "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" and the Armenian authorities," Naghiyev said.
"Azerbaijan attended these negotiations as a side dictating and setting the terms following the hostilities that took place April 2-5, 2016," the analyst said.
The analyst said that if the shelling ceases on the line of contact of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops and a quiet situation is observed till early June, it is possible to proceed to the second round of negotiations in June.
"The actions must be taken to return the occupied areas to Azerbaijan," the analyst said. "Despite the OSCE, as always, is taking actions to achieve truce, our main task is to ensure the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which is envisaged by the Madrid principles, the Paris principles and the Kazan document."
A meeting was held in Vienna May 16 involving President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Minister of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.